by David Finlay (24 Jun 05)

It is almost beyond belief. This car has a 4.3-litre V8 engine under the bonnet, so you know that just a few inches from your toes metal components are thrashing up and down and round about, whipped into action by the explosions of volatile liquid. You may also know that an engine with eight cylinders is inherently less well balanced than an engine with six. So why, unless you bury the throttle pedal and release every last drop of potential, can you neither hear nor feel the power unit of the GS 430?

Because Lexus is, and always has been, the master at suppressing engine noise, that's why. The GS - whether in this form or as the three-litre GS 300 - is described as a "luxury sports saloon", and as far as decibel containment goes it certainly qualifies as a luxury car. This is the equal best thing about the Lexus GS 430.

The other equal best thing about the Lexus GS 430 is the fact that it is extraordinarily well-equipped. £46,755 may seem like quite a high price, but it's all you will have to pay because there are no options. After all, for what else could you opt? The 430 has a specification still higher than that of the uppermost GS 300, the SE-L (whose letters may be assumed to stand for Special Equipment - Luxury).

The 300 SE-L and the 430 are the only GS models with 18" alloy wheels (rather than 17") and a Mark Levinson 14-speaker audio system (as opposed to a 10-speaker one). Adaptive cruise control with Pre-Crash safety is optional on the SE-L but standard on the GS430. Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management and wood trim on the multifunction steering wheel are unique to the 430. No two ways about it - this is a particularly high-specification car.

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